Ammunition container for aircraft

ABSTRACT

An ammunition box for an aircraft having a first container adaptable to be removably attached to an aircraft and having a second container adaptable for attaching to said first container. The first container has an opening in its bottom and said second container has an opening in its end thereby providing access to ammunition belts within said containers for linking an ammunition belt in said second container with an ammunition belt in said first container.

United States Patent Kuyper 1 June 20, 1972 54] AMMUNITION CONTAINER FOR3,185,035 5/1965 Gregory-Humphries ..206/3 x AIRCRAFT 2,382,715 8/19451,845,508 2/1932 [72] lnventor: William Kuyper, Westrmmster, Calif.2,459,934 1/1949 [73] Assignee: The United States of America as 269614312/1954 represented by the Secretary of the Navy I PrimaryExaminer-Stephen C. Bentley [22] Flledi J y 1970 Attorney-R. S.Sciascia, H. H. Losche and Paul S. Collignon [2]] App]. No.: 51,425ABSTRACT An ammunition box for an aircraft having 11 first container US.Cl. ..89/34, adaptable to be removably attached to an aircmfl and havinga [58] Field Search 4 37 SR second container adaptable for attaching tosaid first con- 89l3 5 6 tainer. The first container has an opening inits bottom and said second container has an opening in its end therebyproviding access to ammunition belts within said containers [56]References Cited for linking an ammunition belt in said second containerwith UNITED STATES PATENTS an ammunition belt in said first container.

2,889,751 6/1959 Bilek ..89/34 1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures P'A'TENTEDJumI972 SHEET 10F 2 INVENTOR. WILL/AM KUYPER FIG. 4

AT ORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates toan ammunition container suitable for loading into an aircraft forproviding ammunition for machine guns fixedly attached to the aircraft.

Ammunition containers which are separate from a weapon are in generaluse by the military. These ammunition containers which carry ammunitionwhich is either belted or linked together serve various purposes. Forone thing, ammunition containers provide a convenient way to carryammunition and also serve to keep the ammunition clean. Also thesecontainers keep the ammunition in alignment, thus preventing any kinksor twists that would cause a malfunction in feeding a weapon.

Various types of ammunition containers are presently available forfeeding military weapons, such as machine guns. For example, in US. Pat.No. 2,470,475, which issued May 17, 1949, to Cecil Diaper, there isshown an ammunition box having a plurality of shelves which are hingedso that the shelves can be folded against the walls after the layer ofammunition thereon has been withdrawn.

The development of rapid-fire weapons, and the desire for greater firepower, has dictated that as much ammunition as possible be provided fora military aircraft. There are, however, two limiting factors fordesigning ammunition containers. The first consideration is weight, andas ammunition containers are normally manually loaded into aircraft, thetotal weight of the box and ammunition should be such that it can belifted by one individual. The overall size of the box is alsocontrolling, as an opening must be provided in a wing or fuselage forloading, and these openings cannot be so large as to affect thestructure of the aircraft.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ammunitionbox that is comprised of first and second containers. A first containeris adaptable for attaching to an aircraft and a second container isdesigned to attach to the first container. Openings are provided in thebottom of the first container and the end of the second container sothat access is provided to permit attaching a belt of ammunition in thesecond container with a belt of ammunition in the first container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a diagrammatic view showingan arrangement of ammunition containers being loaded into an aircraft;

FIG. 2 is a side view, partly in section, showing one container attachedto another container;

FIG. 3 is an end view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings;and

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing arrangement of the layers ofammunition in two containers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings,there is shown a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprisedof an upper container 11 and a lower container 12. A pair of supportlugs 13 and 14 are provided on the discharge end of container 11 andalso a pair of support lugs 15 and 16 are provided on the other end ofcontainer 11. By way of example, lugs 13 and 14 might be made integralon a bracket 17 and lugs 15 and 16 might be made integral on a bracket18. Each support lug is provided with a hole 19 with which pins on theaircraft engage to support container 11 in the aircraft, as shown inFIG. 1 of the drawings. Holes 19 in brackets 13 and 14 are elongated tobetter facilitate the mounting of container 11 and to allow formanufacturing tolerances. Containers l1 and 12 are provided with hingedcovers 21 and 22, respectively, to keep dirt and debris from enteringtherein.

A pair of rollers 23 and 24 are provided on shafts 25 and 26,

respectively, in container 1 l, to facilitate movement of ammunition 27as it IS nthdrawn from container 11. A pair of hanger brackets 28 and 29are attached to the sides of lower container 12 and each bracket 28 and2Q is provided with a notch 31 which is engageable with shaft 26. Asbest shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings, a spring-biased latch pin 32 isslidably positioned in latch 33 which is attached to the top of lowercontainer 12. Latch pin 32 is engageable in a hole in lug 34, whichmight be made integral with bracket 18. A release cord 35 is attached toone end of latch pin 32 to facilitate engagement of pin 32 through thehole in lug 34.

OPERATION In operation, upper container 11 having belted or linkedammunition therein is first loaded into an aircraft and retained thereinby pins which engage holes 19 in support lugs 13 to 16, inclusive. Next,as best shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, container 12 is loaded andnotches 31 in brackets 28 and 29 are engaged with shaft 26. Release cord35 is then pulled, which withdraws latch pin 32 to clear notch 36 inlatch 33. Container 12 is then raised so that lug 34 extends into notch36 and, upon release of cord 35, latch pin 32 passes through the hole inlug 34 to secure lower container 12 to upper container 11. As best shownin FIG. 4 of the drawings, openings in the side of container 12 and inthe bottom of container 11 permits ammunition belt 37 in container 12 tobe linked, or otherwise connected, with ammunition belt 38 in container12 whereby the two ammunition belts then become, and function, as asingle belt.

I claim:

1. A device for holding belted ammunition to be fired by an aircraftmounted machine gun comprising,

a first ammunition container having a top, bottom, parallel sides andfirst and second end portions, and openings in said first end portionand said bottom for allowing passage of ammunition during firing of anaircraft mounted machine gun,

first and second parallel shafts stationarily attached to said parallelsides of said first ammunition container adjacent said first endportion, said first parallel shaft being positioned adjacent said topand said second parallel shaft being positioned adjacent said bottom,

first and second rollers rotatably mounted on said first and secondparallel shafts, respectively, for facilitating movement of ammunitionthrough said openings,

a latching lug attached to said second end portion,

a second ammunition container having a top, bottom, parallel sides andfirst and second end portions, and openings in said first end portionand said top of said second ammunition container for allowing passage ofammunition from said second ammunition container into said firstammunition container,

a pair of notched hanger brackets attached one each to the parallelsides of said second ammunition container adjacent said first endportion, each hanger having a notch for engaging said second parallelshaft for supporting a first end of said second ammunition container,

a latch attached to the top of said second ammunition container adjacentsaid second end portion, and

a latch pin slidably mounted in said latch and engageable with saidlatching lug for supporting a second end of said second ammunitioncontainer.

1. A device for holding belted ammunition to be fired by an aircraftmounted machine gun comprising, a first ammunition container having atop, bottom, parallel sides and first and second end portions, andopenings in said first end portion and said bottom for allowing passageof ammunition during firing of an aircraft mounted machine gun, firstand second parallel shafts stationarily attached to said parallel sidesof said first ammunition container adjacent said first end portion, saidfirst parallel shaft being positioned adjacent said top and said secondparallel shaft being positioned adjacent said bottom, first and secondrollers rotatably mounted on said first and second parallel shafts,respectively, for facilitating movement of ammunition through saidopenings, a latching lug attached to said second end portion, a secondammunition container having a top, bottom, parallel sides and first andsecond end portions, and openings in said first end portion and said topof said second ammunition container for allowing passage of ammunitionfrom said second ammunition container into said first ammunitioncontainer, a pair of notched hanger brackets attached one each to theparallel sides of said second ammunition container adjacent said firstend portion, each hanger having a notch for engaging said secondparallel shaft for supporting a first end of said second ammunitioncontainer, a latch attached to the top of said second ammunitioncontainer adjacent said second end portion, and a latch pin slidablymOunted in said latch and engageable with said latching lug forsupporting a second end of said second ammunition container.